Situational Irony
by heart-away
Summary: FIC WAR! Lucy couldn’t help but find it ironic that Natsu couldn’t handle spicy food. NaLu. oneshot


**A/n: I've been challenged in a fic war!! My competitor: ****TheOptimisticPessimist****!**

**Here are the rules: 1500 word limit, FairyTail, NaLu, keyword: Spicy food. Here I go! You…the reader's tell us who's story wins the battle…**

**Summary: Lucy couldn't help but find it ironic that Natsu couldn't handle spicy food. NaLu. Oneshot.**

**Standard disclaimer applies...  
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"Oh Lucy and Natsu," Mirajane cooed enthusiastically, "You just don't know how much I appreciate you helping me." Lucy smiled politely in response to the praise. Natsu disregarded the words completely, too absorbed with his meal to respond to his nakama. Lucy rolled her eyes at the pink haired boy, realizing that it would be solely up to her to maintain the conversation with Mirajane. She turned her attention back to the woman across the bar table.

"We're happy to help you with the new menu, your cooking is always good," Lucy said, forking the last bit of food from her current dish, chewing unhurriedly. Yes, Mirajane was an 'excellent' cook. Lucy chased the food with a sip of water.

Natsu who had finished long ago, was currently licking his plate clean, making sure not to leave a single crumb. He burped resolutely, dropping the plate. It clattered noisily against the bar and caused his own glass of water to tip over, it's contents spilling all about. Startled by all the noise, Lucy choked on her water, and Mirajane gasped sharply.

Clearing her throat, and assessing the damage, Lucy sighed. Natsu let out a loud oops, rubbing the back of his neck embarrassed at his actions. Respectively, Mirajane mumbled a small 'it's okay'. After cleaning the mess with a rag, Mirajane left to the kitchens, preparing the next course for her guinea pigs. Lucy throat still feeling slightly itchy, she took a clumsy sip from her water, unaware of the onyx gaze pinned to her.

Natsu's gaze watched fascinated as his blonde nakama tilted her head back, revealing the pale slender expanse of her neck. A small leak escaped from her lips and trailed a path from her jaw to her collar bone, the short lived journey of his eyes ended as it fell to her cleavage. He blinked as her hand lifted and brushed the liquid off. Lucy hummed a satisfied note, happy that her discomfort was ended. Her eyes opened and she caught Natsu's gaze.

Her head tilted in curiosity, wondering where the intensity of the normally aloof boy had come from. She had only witnessed such an expression on his face during the heat of battle. Strangely enough, Lucy had always found it quite attractive. Though she complained of the dangerous situations the fire mage always seemed to get them in, the prospect of seeing this look once again always left her feeling excited. It gave her this unsettling feeling deep inside that she couldn't pinpoint, a feeling that she quite liked.

Though the hum of conversation from the rest of the guilds occupants provided noise, the two seemed to be caught in this awkward and rare silence. Natsu parted his lips, about to say something, but before he could, Mirajane appeared once again, with a new dish in hand.

It was a chicken breast covered in an array of different colored peppers. It was served with sticky rice and a red glaze. Natsu reverted back to his normal self, noisily commending Mirajane on how 'pretty' it looked. He had already stuffed half of the chicken breast in his mouth by the time Lucy had put the first bite to her lips. She popped it into her mouth and chewed. A surprised sound came out from her lips, as she tasted the flavor. The red glaze was rich and tangy, the rice added a nice texture coupled along with the crunch of the vegetables, and best of all, the zest of the peppers left her with a mildly spicy after taste when she swallowed. How pleasant!

She looked up to gauge to Natsu's reaction, but was very surprised by what she found. He looked as if he was in pain, and his eyes were about to pop out of their sockets. Choking sounds escaped from him and Lucy could swear that she 'sizzling'.

Slamming his fist down in a resolute way, he clambered over Lucy (much to her chagrin) and reached for the glass sitting on her other side. He took heed to none of her complaints, and gulped down what was left of her water, not letting anything escape.

He descended from Lucy's lap, and fell slump onto the floor, his taste buds feeling relieved. Mirajane and Lucy eyed each other in shock. Who would have thought that the boy who 'eats' fire couldn't handle a little bit of spicy food?

Eventually Natsu picked himself off the ground, and sat back in his chair. Unable to hold in her laughter Mirajane walked off to replace their empty glasses, leaving Natsu and Lucy alone.

"Lucy! How can you stand spicy food, it burns your tongue," he yelled to her as she continued to eat from her dish, determined to finish it. "Natsu," Lucy scoffed, "you eat fire! This should have been nothing compared to that." Natsu then proceeded to argue with her about why fire was so much better than any sort of spicy food.

The whole time, Lucy made sure to continue eating her chicken. Other than motion sickness, Natsu didn't possess many weaknesses. Finally she had found something else that she could prevail at that Natsu couldn't do.

It was glorifying.

Mirajane returned with the water, and Lucy was forced to repeatedly assure her that the dish wasn't too spicy, and should be included on the menu. Natsu protested loudly to this, but the two girls simply ignored him, secretly having enjoyed his brief display of agony.

When Mirajane offered Lucy a refill of water, Lucy gladly accepted it. She couldn't help but notice something as she took her sip though. The rim of her glass where her lips touched was warm. Very warm.

As a matter of fact, it was fire mage warm.

A blush colored her cheeks as she made the realization; It must have been the same glass that Natsu had used.

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**A/n: So…what did you think? **

**Just a side note…happy was catnapping. **

**Don't forget to go to TheOptimisticPessimist's story and read her half of the challenge. She is listed in my favorite authors. Then from there vote to tell us who won! You can vote on both of our profiles. Just vote in the polls. 'A Pink Peppered Perspective' is the name you'll be looking for.  
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